


Memories of being Gax

by Heato_kun



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heato_kun/pseuds/Heato_kun
Summary: Reboot-verse. Spoilers for "Omni-Tricked" and "Out to Launch". Set between those two episodes. After defeating Vilgax, Ben ponders on what his former 11th alien was to him. In parallel, Vilgax muses on the meaning behind the dreams he has of being himself and someone else at the same time.





	Memories of being Gax

After a long night catching up sleep that yesterday's adventure deprived her from, Gwendolyn Tennyson pulled herself out of bed. Smelling her grandpa's delicious pancakes, she eagerly ran to the kitchen, bumping into her cousin on the way.

"OUCH!" both kids yelped.

"Heheh" laughed Max "I see you two kids are hungry."

Standing back up, she rapidly sat at the kitchen table, while Ben was taking his time to get himself seated. Unusual coming from him, as he always raced Gwen for who would get the first bit of waffles. He usually won, mostly because Gwen hated waffles, but also because he  _may have_  cheated using XLR8. Max was lucky his grandson didn't knock over the dishes every morning there was waffles, otherwise he'd have Ben clean up his mess. Which would be a novelty since Ben rarely did his chores in the RV.

"You bet I do, Grandpa! No villain or pranks from Ben are gonna get me away from my pancakes."

"Heheh, make sure you don't eat too fast, Gwen. Ben, what do you want this morning?"

No answer. Ben was sitting next to the window, facing Gwen. Didn't he hear Max or did he see something distracting outside?

"Ben?" asked Max.

"Huh? Oh yes grandpa." Ben said as he turned to him, "I think I'll just get some bacon, I don't really feel too hungry today."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, make sure you don't tire yourself out next time you use the watch."

"Haha, yeah." Ben nervously laughed. Thankfully (or not), his family didn't seem to pick up on his behavior this morning.

"What, finally got your appetite set to 'human' this time? Mr 'I-eat-like-ten-aliens-at-the-same-time'?" teased Gwen.

"More like I know I need how to feed myself, unlike miss 'I-missed-dinner-because-I-spent-another-day-reading-"Grimoire Girls"' over here." he teased back.

Good, Gwen was in the mood for jokes, that would leave him time to think to himself.

He eyed the green watch he had on his wrist. He called it "the watch" for a good half of the summer, it was only recently that he learned how it was named. Bounty Hunters came in, Grandpa Max's old friend Phil helped him with the alien jumps and... Vilgax.

"So, are we still going to see Captain McCabe today?" he asked.

"Yes, it's still on schedule. I can't believe you two are this excited to see a plane."

"It's not just a plane, grandpa!" said Gwen. "It's a scientific wonder, a new model made by  _the NASA itself_  capable of things regular planes can't! I'll explain more when we get there! Oh, Ben's favorite pilot is controlling it too. Wonder why something this performant would have a pilot guiding it, I thought it would be left to ground control."

"Hey, Captain McCabe is the best of the best! She could probably kick alien butt like me if she knew where evil aliens were!" Ben said as he ceremoniously defended his idol's reputation. Also almost choking on his bacon.

"She surely doesn't know how to ride an airplane better than you at driving us nuts!" she jokingly said.

"Yeah, yeah." he said, not paying much attention to her mocking.

"Anyway," he added as he finished his plate "I'm gonna sleep a bit more so I'll be in shape when I meet McCabe. Don't want to look like Gwen with Michael Morningstar when I talk to her."

Ignoring Gwen's grumbles, he went back to bed.

"Should we tell him civilians are not allowed to get near her? I thought we already did when we talked about our destination yesterday."

"Oh grandpa" said Gwen in a fake knowing voice "you told that to the alien-turning kid of the family with a hero complex. Let Ben dream on, he probably thinks Stinkfly would look good flying next to her, putting aside the stench he'll leave on her suit."

"If you say so." amusedly responded Max, munching on his fried eggs.

* * *

He didn't really need sleep. Just not feeling like he was done with yesterday's nightmare.

Four days ago, Ben had unlocked a new alien: Gax.

When he first turned into the tentacled giant, Ben immediately felt a big power rush through his whole body. Gax was amazing and felt like the best in every way: he could cause an earthquake just by walking, his arms could turn into super strong tentacles and would still be as durable as before, he could jump really high and was as agile as a monkey. Plus, who could forget the  _laser eyes!_

He even got over his tentacle phobia during the short time he had Gax.

Then the real problems started.

After beating Animo's Teramite and showing Gwen and Grandpa how cool Gax was, the watch was beeping uncontrollably again and he started alien-jumping. Gwen had told him he already did it before when destroying Adrena-land, but he just brushed it off as his cousin still having weird dreams like a baby would. Now he wasn't so sure he could make fun of her about it again, considering what the Omnitrix glitching could mean. Problems, that's what it meant.

Later on, they met the three alien hunters and Phil. Ben was impressed since it was his first fight with real off-planet aliens (the trio of chefs didn't count, they spent more time fighting each other than  _him_ ), and for the first time learned what the watch was called (also, XLR8 is a "celery man"?). They wanted Gax, but Ben wouldn't give him to them.

Then he argued with his team about how he used the watch and claimed he knew nothing was wrong with it. Clearly his consciousness, common sense and the footage of last night with him making everyone's sleep impossible was enough proof to convince him otherwise, but he had been too mad to care at that point and straight up went in the forest to train on his own.

_I should've been more careful_ , he thought,  _that was just a terrible thing to do, especially for a hero like me._

He couldn't have predicted "Vil"'s arrival, or that the old alien would be so good at lying to him. He had Gax for less than a week, only for him to lose the new guy to "Vilgax". Even though he had beaten squid-face down to a pulp after, upgrading the Omnitrix in the process, it still felt terrible to lose a good alien like that.

But hey, he managed to pull through and got the watch to look cooler, possibly got it working even better than before. So all's well that ends well, right?

But it wasn't the case. Something disturbed Ben about Gax. The alien was half of Vilgax's powers, and caused Ben to depend on him and ignore anyone who wanted to help him control his transformations. Gax made him trust Vil and caused him to break his watch even further due to the influence the alien warlord's DNA provided. But that wasn't it.

Despite all that, he missed him.

Ben couldn't believe himself. He found himself missing Gax. The alien had only been here for the time Vilgax took to get near Earth and was the reason the Omnitrix had glitched so much. But he still felt that he couldn't despise the alien.

On the contrary, Ben liked all the times he spent as Gax. The squid creature made him feel stronger and it was as if anything was possible whenever he turned into him. And sure, the incessant beeping was annoying, but it did nothing to stop him from feeling great.

Gax was stronger and more durable than any of his aliens, Vilgax wiping the floor with him was a proof of that. He remembered how good power felt when he fought, especially when he showed Animo who was the boss on Earth.

In an odd way, he could understand why Vilgax tried to show him how to use his powers before taking them back, the warlord knew how amazing it felt to master all of that strength and knew how much Ben couldn't resist following his instructions, if it meant becoming more powerful than ever.

It was ironic, in a way. Because if Vilgax was Gax's whole self, Ben felt as if Gax had been a part of him instead.

When he was Gax, he still felt like himself, only he was more confident and capable than usual. As if Gax brought out Ben's inner abilities and courage, making him a hero fit to save the day like he wanted to be. When he lost Gax, even though his alien forms were still strong, he felt weak and hurt. He was unable to fight back against Vilgax and hardly managed to attack without hurting himself in the process.

It felt awful to lose all of what he had gained. Vilgax had slowly taken Gax's skin off Ben before merging it with himself, leaving the poor human in pain when he tried to move again. He couldn't believe that he lost Gax, that Gax had left him powerless, and that he wasn't good enough to be a hero anymore.

Of course, Gwen encouraged him to get over it and it helped, but she just didn't know how much Ben suffered under his cocky attitude. He did his best to hide his real pain in front of them, and took out all of his pent-up frustration during his fight against Vilgax. As if it could bring back what he had lost to the same person who gave him Gax.

Ben couldn't deny it, it felt great to have all this power to himself, losing it was like losing himself (which was ultimately the case, because the watch momentarily erased his human DNA signature). Vilgax probably felt like that when he became "Vil", a weakling hardly able to hurt a fly without his powers around. But he could never forgive him for stealing it back like that and harming his family like it was nothing.

Now Squidface was probably rotting in lava, turning into fried alien squid bathing in burning magma. It felt weird to end a fight like that, but Ben was under the impression Vilgax wasn't gone for good. Gax could walk on burning lava, Vilgax would probably have no problem escaping when his diamond prison eventually shattered, and Ben would have to try beating him again, this time without the alien-jumping giving him an advantage.

He wished he could have Gax again at times. Even if his sloppy use of his powers would mostly end up with a tie against Vilgax, Ben wanted to be him again even if it was just once. Just so he could feel the Conqueror of Worlds' immense power rushing through him again.

He turned around on his bed, covering himself with his blanket. Right now, he wasn't obligated to save the world. He was just supposed to go on a roadtrip with his cousin and grandfather for the summer, he wouldn't have to worry about a thing.

He sighed. He was about to meet one of his idols, but spent the majority of the morning brooding rather than preparing himself. Maybe he could just improvise and talk to Captain McCabe like an equal. She probably would do the same if he managed to impress her with his aliens. Maybe he could get the NASA to notice Gwen's computer skills too, giving her exposure wouldn't hurt considering she was the cousin of Earth's greatest hero, it would cause no harm with him usually overshadowing her talent with his awesomeness.

Right now, he just needed to  _relax_  and stay cool. He decided he really could use a nap and fell back into slumber in a matter of minutes. It was fine, there wasn't any sign of danger now and he was gonna have a good time. As the two lovebirds who he often ruins the dates say, nothing could ruin this moment.

He was so wrong.

* * *

It was difficult enough to reach this ship's cargo hold. He would have to wait until these humans closed the door to finally act out. Vilgax the Conqueror of Worlds, reduced to hiding rather than fighting for his victory, this new ship should better be worthwhile.

Here he found himself on the changeling's home planet. He had hoped to get the Omnitrix from the child, but only managed to regain what part of his power the device had imprisoned. It wasn't enough, but he wanted revenge on it for stealing away his mightiness.

Every second spent on this planet seemed to aim at humiliating him. He arrived as an old and powerless Chimerian, had to resort to trickery to get his strength back, and finally had received a beating from a  _child_. Vilgaxia's inhabitants would question their king's story if he ever made the improbable decision of telling the tale of his arrival on Earth. It would take time for this ship to reach its destination, then Vilgax would ready his army to put an end to this pesky population.

Truly, this species was a nightmare despite its weaknesses and blatant ignorance. Especially the green-eyed kid. He had recklessly used Vilgax's abilities to play at being a hero when he was nothing more than a nuisance, thwarted the warlord's plans of escaping by destroying the Chimerian Hammer before drowning it in lava, and dared opposing the alien king once more with that cursed bracelet.

Vilgax growled as he brushed the burn scars on his arms, still injured from what the child has done. Who knew when they would inevitably meet again? The alien had spent the night cursing him, wishing him all of Vilgaxia's past plagues and disasters, wanting to take that hideous grin off his face and hang it on his ship to show how weak he truly was against an experienced fighter like Vilgax. Yet the physical pain that came with his last defeat wasn't what angered the displeased ruler the most.

When he tried to rest, nightmares of his loss appeared in his mind, growing the seeds of revenge into his heart. Yet his dreams took a rather unexpected turn after seeing the child coming out unscathed.

Rather than reliving his fight over and over, he found himself practicing in the Earth's forest, destroying rocks and using his laser vision to burn some trees for no reason.

What confused him the most about was the amusement he had at fooling around this way. It wasn't an honorable attitude from his behalf, so why would he enjoy such a childish activity? Other images flooded his mind, and he realized those must've been the human's memories while harnessing his powers.

It disgusted him to see an inexperienced fool use his abilities just for the sake of saving this dirt planet from its inhabitants' deeds. Yet he recognized a part of his own behavior in the boy. What the child did was very similar to what Vilgax did, as they both aimed to protect their respective homeworlds from any dangers. Vilgax had sworn to protect Vilgaxia even before he came to rule, his conquest of the galaxy was his own way of ensuring nothing like the Omnitrix being misused would ever harm his birth planet.

And while the kid was human, Vilgax felt some form of nostalgia in the way he used "Gax", as he had called the power that didn't belong to him. He was flailing his new tentacles around, abused of the laser vision, did acrobatics to show his contentment and, if the dreams were accurate, called himself "king laser space squid" while fighting another of the other earthling's abominations. It sounded humorous at best, but Vilgax knew why the boy behaved like that.

He was just a child, a mere being who couldn't grasp at all how important that alien form truly was, and used it as a toy rather than a ruling fist like it was made for. Still, his behavior was undoubtedly similar to one of a child Chimera Sui Generis, his playful demeanor only highlighting how immature and ignorant of life he was. Vilgax wondered how different the boy would've been had he been taught about the outer world, but he doubted it would make that much of a difference. A kid like him was only so stubborn, it would be his downfall someday.

He however was surprised as he saw, in another piece of memories, the human child leaving his family behind to train on his own. It was no secret that he was being immature again, but his body language and assurance whilst being angry suggested otherwise. No, what Vilgax saw in him, was his own act of rebellion.

Vilgax had acted similarly when he left Murray for being too ambitious. His people thought he wasn't careful enough with the power he beheld, but they simply didn't know and feared who he was bound to be. Now they were under his rule, and they couldn't wrong him like they used to. The changeling had lived through the exact same feeling at that moment, except he won't ever get to be recognized by his peers for what he did.

Humans were stupid and mostly denied the existence of creatures from outer space, despite clearly describing them as "aliens". That was why the child could never hope to receive the title of "hero", that was why he would forever live in denial regarding his own planet's trust, and that was why he would never reach Vilgax's level as long as he let others decide what he was rather than showing them what he had over them. He was too weak to oppose his own like he did once before, he wouldn't be able to do so again now that Vilgax was whole again.

The warlord hummed as he recalled the venom there was in the earthling's green eyes when he did so. Those were the eyes of someone who had experienced betrayal but would still be naive enough to let himself being manipulated, which was ultimately why Vilgax was assured to win next time they fought. There was no point in arguing, he would make sure the child learns his place before reducing him to ashes.

He prepared himself as he heard the dark skinned human penetrate the ship's control room. He didn't know what was the deal with her unusual speech pattern and couldn't care less, but he knew it was his time to shine. It seemed as if she was arguing with someone, but it didn't matter as long as he managed to get her out of his way. It wouldn't be too much of a problem to eject her out of the vehicle once he got in orbit.

The human child wasn't anywhere near him. And if he was, he didn't possess what it took to stop Vilgax the Conqueror from returning to his former glory again.

He was so wrong.

* * *

He wasn't one of them. Neither one or the other. He was both.

Gax was Ben and Vilgax at the same time. He shared their common traits and was the union of their beings. He had Ben's needs in adventure and Vilgax's roughness. He had Vilgax's strength and Ben's intuition regarding getting the job done. He was both.

Gax became a part of Ben as much as he was part of Vilgax, and Ben himself accepted becoming Vilgax in the whole process. But it wasn't possible anymore.

Gax held Ben's wishes and carried them over to his original self, but it was considered nothing more than an illusion, a phantom of a kid's improbable dreams.

Gax was Vilgax's beckoning potential that begged to be exploited, but Ben lost it.

Gax would allow to feel an experience, the experience of being immersed in the ecstasy of power and thirst of victory from an innocent but brave eye, but Vilgax rejected it.

Through Gax, Ben was Vilgax, and Vilgax was Ben. They were the same, they wanted the same thing, they aimed for the same goal: power. But they couldn't get the real meaning behind that power's history of ownership. Until they came to an understanding, they wouldn't be able to achieve an union as perfect as Gax was.

Vilgax could eventually team up with someone else, someone who would be willing to help against Ben, but that just wasn't it.

Ben could seek another power, something else to be strong. But it didn't ensure victory if he kept ignoring his true potential like he did now.

They could be one, he was technically two. That made three of them. Now how long would it take for Gax to shine beside Earth's sun again...

He would have to wait to know the answer.

**Author's Note:**

> WHOOOOOOO! Here I am! And with a reboot fanfic!
> 
> I, for one, really, really loved the Omni-Tricked four-parter. When I saw the first part with Vilgax whispering in Ben's mind, it just gave me shivers.
> 
> Then Ben becoming addicted with Gax was so ironic it inspired me to write this to have a take at what both thought of the whole ordeal, and what Gax, as he was being both of them literally in that episode, could mean to them.
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you guys like this. don't forget to review if you enjoyed it and see you in another fanfic! Bye!


End file.
